


Finally Sampling Fondue

by zarabithia



Category: Captain America (2011), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Avengers Movies Universe, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Community: love bingo, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-14
Updated: 2012-10-14
Packaged: 2017-11-16 06:43:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/536617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zarabithia/pseuds/zarabithia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For Steve, moving forward involves buying a lot of furniture, for various reasons.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Finally Sampling Fondue

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the following prompts: "furniture shopping" from a tumblr meme and "making love" for love bingo.

When Steve had first moved into his apartment in Brooklyn, most things had been picked by S.H.I.E.L.D., which of course, meant that most of the items in the apartment had been picked by Phil Coulson and Sharon Carter.

To their credit, they'd done a good job. Between Phil's devotion to historical accuracy and Sharon's much more personal connection, the apartment had fit the man who had been frozen in the ice all those years ago. There were no repeats of the baseball game debacle - everything from the music to the art supplies to the furniture had been exactly as Steve remembered it. 

But eventually, Steve stopped being that person. 

Maybe it was joining the Avengers, maybe it was finally setting things right with Peggy, maybe it was his ongoing association with S.H.I.E.L.D. - maybe it was some combination of all of those factors. 

But whatever the catalyst had been, Steve was moving forward. That meant sampling music from all the decades he missed, giving digital art and wider drawing tablets a try, and comparing the Starkphone and iPhone before deciding that he'd be perfectly happy with one of the Android phones that Pepper had introduced him to. 

And, of course, it meant finally sampling fondue. 

~

It took Steve a while to figure out what to call him; it had been Rhodes for a while, and later, James. The formal addresses were a sign of respect, and Rhodey appreciated that, but he also appreciated the way that "Jim" sounded on Steve's tongue, and the way that it made Tony roll his eyes and insist that his name was _Rhodey._

Most days, Rhodey agreed with Tony, but the private address between himself and Steve was something that he liked having just between the two of them. 

"Cheese tastes better on you than it ever did on the bread, Jim," Steve murmured, somewhere between his best efforts to swallow Rhodey's tongue.

Steve had a bit of a problem with excess enthusiasm at times. By "problem," Rhodey primarily meant that there was too much tongue and too much squirming on Rhodey's lap - and too much difficulty trying to _not_ to think about the levels of "boring" and "uptight" and "lacking in fun" that Tony thought were the binding agents in the newly developing "friendship" between Rhodey and Steve. 

Rhodey planned on dissuading Tony from that notion about as much as he planned on complaining about Steve's particular problems with enthusiasm.

"It tastes pretty good on you, too," Rhodey assured him, and he was rewarded with one of Steve's impossibly bright smiles. 

Most people tended to get all weak in the knees for that smile; the advantage of keeping their relationship quiet was that Rhodey was able to watch other people's reactions to his boyfriend. Steve was as faithful as the day was long, so Rhodey could mostly enjoy the feeling of complete hopelessness that came over anyone when they received an unexpected Rogers smile. It made him feel better about how easily Steve had systematically dismantled every one of his "boring, uptight, and lacking in fun" defense mechanisms that Rhodey prided himself in having against teenager-like hormonal escapades - such as the one they were currently engaged in on Steve's newly purchased couch. 

But that smile also made Steve look impossibly young for a man old enough to be Rhodey's grandfather, and it made Rhodey feel like he was robbing the cradle. That was something that hadn't been an issue since the first ten times that Tony had tried to get in his pants at MIT. 

Perhaps to preserve his sanity, and to remind Rhodey that Steve had seen a hell of a lot in his time, Steve leaned in just a bit and licked his lips before saying, "I can think of something that might taste better, though."

Yeah, Steve's enthusiasm really wasn't an issue. In fact, Rhodey might have displayed a bit of enthusiasm himself, on their way to the bedroom.

~

"You were right. Much better than fondue," Jim murmured, as Steve threw the rest of the soiled tissue into the trashcan by the bed. 

The blissful expression on his face made Steve's fingers itch with the urge to draw, but instead he slipped back into the sheets. Steve hadn't quite figured out how to ask permission of his lovers to draw them while they were awake, and so his pictures of Jim were all composed while he slept - just as they had been with Bucky.

The bed groaned in protest as Steve's weight was added. 

"I agree," Steve said. "But somehow, I don't think the bed appreciates our activities as much as we do." 

Steve always braced his weight on the bed, instead of the person he was with, so that he wouldn't hurt them, and that showed up loud and clear. Jim glanced up then, at the broken headboard, and chuckled softly. It sent a warm feeling in the middle of Steve's chest and right between his legs. 

It was a rare, but wonderful sound, and Steve was entirely pleased with himself to know that he heard it more than anyone else - including Jim's best friend. 

"Yeah, the bed doesn't seem very pleased by it," Jim agreed. "Or maybe it's just not pleased with the idea of being replaced, which I think is going to be necessary." 

Steve gave a fond look to the bed, one that would have looked right at home in the apartment that he and Bucky used to share. At first it had disturbed him, and then Steve had found comfort in its familiarity. It was one of the items that Coulson and Carter had picked that he hadn't planned on replacing.

But plans didn't always work out the way that Steve imagined, did they? 

"The bed will just have to learn what I've learned since waking up in the 21st century," Steve answered. "Change is good." 

"That it is," Jim agreed. "But I'm still not going furniture shopping with you."

"That's okay," Steve answered. "As long as you're here to help me break in the new bed." 

Jim laughed that wonderful low laugh again. "I don't think that's going to be an issue, Captain."

"Happy to hear it, Colonel."


End file.
